Your argument is essentially that the government is inefficient because it spends a lot of money on healthcare for old, sick people?
Jesus. That's fucking stupiud.
No old and poor dolt.
The old use more and the poor use less (mainly because the poor are generally younger).
The bigger point is that government does not have a good record on managing healthcare costs. We've all seen the stories on the enormous amount of fraud in Medicaid but I'm sure you will pretend they aren't much so here are SOME.
Medicare and Medicaid made an estimated $23.7 billion in improper payments in 2007. These included $10.8 billion for Medicare and $12.9 billion for Medicaid. Medicare’s fee-for-service reduced its error rate from 4.4 percent to 3.9 percent. (U.S. Office of Management and Budget, 2008)
Medicare and Medicaid lose an estimated $60 billion or more annually to fraud, including $2.5 billion in South Florida. (Miami Herald, August 11, 2008)
Every $1 the U.S. government invests in combating Medicare and Medicaid fraud saves $1.55. (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2009)
Medicare paid dead physicians 478,500 claims totaling up to $92 million from 2000 to 2007. These claims included 16,548 to 18,240 deceased physicians. (U.S. Senate Permanent Committee on Investigations, 2008)
Nearly one of three claims (29 percent) Medicare paid for durable medical equipment was erroneous in FY 2006. (Inspector General report, Department of Health and Human Services, August 2008)
Medicare and private health insurers pay up to $16 billion a year for needless imaging tests ordered by doctors. (American College of Radiology, 2004)
http://www.insurancefraud.org/medicarefraud.htm
